During any attempt to manifest love, particularly in love divination and rituals, I often recommend performing a cleansing a purifying ritual before you begin your love work. I recommend this because even though we may find ourselves single, we are not always completely detached from our pasts. This is often true in relation to our love lives. Although we may feel completely ready to embark on a new love adventure, there still may be some old residue left behind from a past relationship. Feelings of anger, hurt feelings or unresolved emotions often lie just beneath the surface.

Clearly some people take the approach to simply letting sleeping dogs lie. In theory I wouldn’t be opposed to this at all. However, when it comes to relationships you never know what is going to trigger you, particularly if you have old wounds from a past relationship that you have failed to acknowledge or address. Sooner or later, past attachments and their negative interactions are going to impede on your current relationship or attempts at a new relationship. In reality, the best approach to finding a perfect relationship is to make peace with your past ones.

To help rid yourself of some of these old attachments, there are two rituals Art of the Root recommends. The first is a purification and cleansing ritual to literally help you clear away past attachment and residue from old relationships. The second process is a healing ritual to help you firmly let go and help you become more available in the present.

The Cut & Clear Oil and Bath does exactly what its name implies. It Cuts the past and Clears you for the here and now. Obviously there are a number of methods and approaches to how one might do this. There really is no wrong or right approach so long as it works. I personally had to work a Cut & Clear Ritual Bath weekly for three months to help me let go of an ex-boyfriend. That may seem like a long time, but let me tell you, it was a long relationship!

Here is one of my favorite Cut & Clear Spells that I like to work with. You will need the following:

Cut & Clear Oil, A Scissors, a piece of paper, a black candle, a whole lemon, salt and a black piece of fabric and some black string & small bowl of water.

To begin, take a piece of paper and write down everything you wish to let go of right in the middle of the piece of paper. This can be specific people or it can be feelings, concepts or beliefs. Then take your scissors and cut out your list from the rest of the paper. In the center of the paper, add a pinch of salt and a few drops of Cut & Clear Oil. Then, fold the paper in half, making sure you fold the paper away from your body. Do this a couple more times and until the paper is small enough to fit inside your lemon. Take your scissors or use a small knife and carve a small hole in your lemon. Squeeze a bit of the lemon juice into your small bowl of water. You are going to also want a cuple drops of the Cut & Clear Oil and and pinch of salt into the bowl of water. Next, put the paper inside the lemon and add a few more drops of Cut & Clear Oil. Wrap the lemon in your black fabric and tie it like your tying a book or present. Go one way, and then criss cross and go the other. This part of the rituals is done.

Next, take your black candle and anoint it with the Cut & Clear Oil, beginning at the middle and pushing its way down towards the bottom of the candle.

When you feel completely ready, light the candle. Always make sure the candle is in an appropriate holder. Next, take the candle and you are symbolically going to imagine all the negativity and attachments dissolving. Take the candle and hold it near your head and then move it down your body, slowly. And make sure you don’t get the flame to close to your body! I really like Psalm 17, lines 1-3 for this particular cleansing ritual. But you may also choose to say your own prayer or simply chant, “I let go” over and over.

When you have completed this step, place the candle near your wrapped lemon. Let the candle burn out on its own. You are going to place the lemon on a window sill for 7 days. Take any excess wax and stick it in the bowl with lemon, salt and Cut & Clear Oil. This will help to continue the Cleansing effect. Leave it next to the lemon for all 7 days.

When the seven days are up, you can either leave everything at a crossroad or throw it into a stream or river, just make sure the water is moving. FYI, do not throw anything up river from where you stand, always throw things down river, away from you.

You can finish up with a Healing Bath right after your Cut & Clear ritual. I recommend doing this as a bath soak.You can repeat this for three days if you feel compelled to do so.